At what internvals is everbody changing their oil and filter. I wanted to do them every 7500 because the dealer gave me free oil changes for life in those intervals. Also i have 5000 on the truck so far and the oil level is near the add line. Is this common for these trucks to use that much oil. One more thing. Does anybody know how much fluid it takes to fill from the add line to the full line. I know on just about all gasers it is 1 quart. Thanks!
-Allen

 

I don't see any thing wrong with those intervals
my truck has not used one drop of oil in the 7,000 miles I have on it!!
are you checking the level after it's been sitting for a while???
the owners manual tells you to wait 30 mins to check it after you have run the engine.

BTW I have a 91 Mazda with 265,000 miles on it and I have only changed the oil every 15,000 since it had 129,000 when I bought it. it still runs like a champ this is on plain old Napa oil too.
I think changing oil with less then 5,000 miles on it is a waste of time, money and oil. ( I will do mine at 7K intervals)

filters and conventional oil have come a long way....


my .02

53
Mark

 

i running about a 7,500 intervel without burning anything

 

I change mine between 3,000-10,000 (depending on the weather) and I've never had any oil burn off

 

How long did you wait after you shut it off before checking the oil? It can take 15 or more minutes for all of the oil to drain back in to the oil pan. I like to check mine after it has sat over night to get the best reading. If you check it after only being off 5 or fewer minutes then it may show it being down 1-2 qt's of oil on the dip stick.

 

He's right wait at least 10 minutes or so the oil level will go up

 

the ADD line to FULL line is 2 quarts.

 

I'd give you a vote for an early oil change before the 7500 mile normal service interval. Because of any internal leftover particles from the engine assembly process, or wear metals from the engine break-in, I wouldn't keep that stuff floating in the pan or stuck in the filter just because you wanted to make it to the 7500 mile mark. It's a shame if the dealer won't honor your free oil changes for life just because this one hasn't made it to 7500 miles yet. I don't have my maintenance schedule in front of me, but isn't the 7500 mile oil change timed to occur at about 6 months in service? Maybe if you've reached the 6 months, but not the 7500 miles, the dealer might be more understanding.

I had my first oil change done at just over 3 months and about 3600 miles. The day I drove my truck off the lot was the start of a 3 day, 2000 mile trip, so I can only imagine how quickly that oil got contaminated with stuff from the engine break-in by running the engine at highway speed for hours on end.

My only advice would be that no matter what interval you choose for your oil changes, make sure you send off a sample for oil analysis. Not only will you be able to see what is in your oil now, but hopefully all the parameters will continue to improve as the engine builds more hours. And you just might be able to catch a problem before something really bad happens!

And no, I haven't burned a noticeable amount of oil in the three years that I've owned my CTD. Everytime I check, it's always been comfortablely between the ADD and FULL lines.

 

On my '03 I target 10K change intervals and use Delvac 1. Actual change interval ranges from 9-11K depending on scheduling. I broke it in on Rotella for the first 30K (w/ more frequent changes), the truck currently has 105K+.

Today my miles are mainly 140 mile round trip commuting, 99% highway, moderate speeds and acceleration - and the engine consumes 1-1.5 quarts between changes. I don't tow enough to be sure, but it looks like 500-1000 miles of light-medium towing during that 10K interval will use another .5 quart or so.

I wish it was less - but when we compare it to the truck it replaced - a Ford Ranger using 1-1.5 quarts every 3 or 4K at the same age - it doesn't seem so bad.

Consumption seems steady for at least the past 40-50K and it's not leaking on the driveway so I consider it all good.

 

You might want to wait overnight to check your oil....these things take a LONG time to drain back.

My dealer overfills my truck every time unless I remind them to only fill to the BOTTOM of the cross hatches on the dip stick.

If they do this and leave 'er overnight, it will be at the full mark.

 

I'm up to a 10k mile drain intervals on my truck, and I've never added oil to the engine prior to an oil change. Lotsa good advice on letting the engine sit overnight prior to taking an oil level reading.

Being at the line isn't a bad thing. If you are indeed at the line, and if it makes you feel better - pour in a quart; they'll be draining it out in 2500 miles anyways.